John Nash Column -- The better she gets, the more Weston's Danielle Lamy learns from the game of golf

Published
6:15 pm EDT, Monday, June 11, 2012

WILTON -- Danielle Lamy is not one of those child prodigies, a Tigress Woods who had a golf club in her hand instead of a rattle.

On the contrary, Lamy never even picked up a club until the spring of her freshman year at Weston High School.

Six years later, after 18 holes of golf at the Rolling Hills Country Club on Monday, during the qualifying round of the 94th Connecticut Women's Golf Association's Championship tournament, Lamy is sitting in 10th place with a legitimate shot at winning the whole thing over the next three days.

"I started playing golf my freshman year in high school, which is kind of late compared to others who play in junior golf," said Lamy, after she fired an 50-37--87. "I didn't have any expectations, though. I just wanted to play."

It quickly became apparent, though, that Lamy wasn't just going to be another triple-digit hacker on the golf course.

Something clicked and before all those junior golfers -- the ones who had to keep lengthening their clubs as they grew -- knew it, the new kid was tearing up courses throughout the state.

"I quickly gained ground," Lamy said.

She became the No. 1 golfer at Weston High School, leading the Trojans to a 10-1-1 record and a state championship her senior year.

In four years time, she had gone from rough-cut rookie who didn't know the difference between a divot and a double bogey, to a player who would be teeing it up for a Division I college.

"From day one, she's been very, very driven to become a good golfer," said former Weston High girls golf coach Mike Ahlers, who is now the head pro at Pine Valley Country Club in Fort Wayne, Ind. "It came pretty easy to her in high school, but she was a big risk-taker. It took me a while to beat through her head that she can't hit it through trees. But she was a good teammate and she has that drive to be as good as she can. The sky is the limit for her."

Upon graduating from Weston, Lamy took her clubs to High Point University in North Carolina.

It didn't take long for her to realize the grass isn't always greener in the other fairway.

"I struggled to get my bearings," she admitted. "I was home sick. I got injured my spring semester, doing something to my back."

Lamy also felt she wasn't getting tested at High Point, as a student, or as an athlete.

She decided to transfer to the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, where she found exactly what she was looking for both on and off the course.

"I got over the home-sickness," she said. "You just have to learn that your team and the athletic department are your family, and the coach is your mom and dad, and what they say goes. Plus, UNCW is better ranked and really serious about golf. It's golf, it's school … and it's community service."

Lamy's arrival in Wilmington, however, wasn't the perfect drive to the center of the fairway, either.

During the fall season, she suffered an elbow injury which required surgery, keeping her off the links until this past May.

Lamy was able to get out on the course to represent UNCW, carding a 75 in the second round of the UNCW Seahawk Classic.

Once her college season ended, she followed that up by winning her flight at the Charlotte Women's Southern Open, bouncing back from a rough qualifying round to shoot 75-79-74.

She came home soon after -- she has an internship in New York City -- and shot fairly well in the Connecticut Open, leading up to this week's CWGA championship.

It's the first time Lamy has played in the event, but she's making sure to use the things she's already learned to succeed.

After all, while she shot a 50 on the front nine -- including 15 strokes over holes four and five -- Lamy settled down and fired a one-over par 37 on the back.

"Golf is one of those things where you have to move forward," said Lamy. "You can't do anything about your last shot."

Likewise, it's a lesson she's learned through her whole career.

Twice, Lamy has bounced back from injuries, and gotten better at the game she enjoys so much.

"My injuries have really pushed me," she said. "I've learned not to give up on my dreams and I've dedicated myself to keep doing what I love. It's always been me, pushing myself."

Lamy admits she's struggled with the mental part of the game at times.

Knowing she was so far behind other good golfers, Lamy has caught herself looking ahead. It's a trait that has come back to bite her.

"Something I've struggled with over my career is the mental game," she admitted. "I struggled in high school because I was trying to compete with the girls around me, the ones who started so much earlier. I think that's why I wanted it to so badly. I wanted to prove I was a great golfer and I think that got in my way. I thought about it too much."

Lamy's 1.7 handicap will tell you how great a golfer she is. The tournaments she is now taking part in will tell you how great a golfer she can become.

"You have to take lessons out of what you learn," she said. "(In other tournaments), I've learned I can be too aggressive. I was always trying to make birdies. You need to try to make pars, because the birdies will come."

Over the next few days, those pars and birdies will have a lot to say how far Danielle Lamy has come down the road toward greatness.